Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

192 reviews

alpettit's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A beautiful and sad story spanning generations. It touched on so many political, social, economic, and cultural issues. I learned a lot while following their stories. It really showed how our choices can impact others while at the same time changing the course of our lives forever. I felt such deep sadness for the characters as they toiled to take care of their families during the wars and then later how they struggled to climb the socio-economic ladder. I felt their pain when they lost loved ones. The story was so real. The only thing I didn’t like is how it stopped so abruptly. There wasn’t closure for some characters’ stories. But that’s life, right? It just keeps going. The story could go on forever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Colonisation

tangoscore's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Racism, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

sadieadie's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

enchanteddroppings's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

kmetzing's review against another edition

emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, Trafficking, Car accident, Abortion, and War

thebookishrooks123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

tomellibee's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Colonisation, and Classism

_annns's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicide, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and War

jg93's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual content, Abortion, and Death of parent

tanahoff's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is a thought-provoking story that follows the experiences of one Korean family throughout multiple generations in the 20th century. We start off with the life of Hoonie and his wife Yangjin, who live in a small fishing village in Korea with their daughter, Sunja. Following Hoonie's death, Sunja and her mother Yangjin take over the family business, working day and night to provide for themselves and keep their family business afloat. When Sunja becomes pregnant during her teenage years by a wealthy man, she must make a challenging decision. Sunja marries a Christian minister, Isak, and the two migrate to Japan. From here, we walk with Sunja and Isak, eventually following the lives of their children and grandchildren. 

Pachinko gives readers much needed insight regarding the panorama of east Asia in the 1900s and the challenges that Koreans faced during that time. Through Pachinko, we learn about the displacement of Koreans and the challenges and xenophobia they faced in Japan. We see the impact of this displacement play out across marriages, careers, education, war, imprisonment, and more. Pachinko is an important story to educate readers about the Korean experience.  

I picked up Pachinko after seeing it on the New York Time's Top 100 books of the 21st century, and after reading, I can say it's place on the list is well justified. Pachinko comes in at one of my only five-star reviews of the year.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail